0-100 KM/H Sprint Record With A Homemade EV, DUT12

0-100 KM/H Sprint Record With A Homemade EV, DUT12

Weight-power ratio is everything when it comes to acceleration, and the small DUT12, a homemade EV built by Dutch students is an excellent example for this. This electric single-seater achieved the performance of going from 0-62 mph or 0-100 km/h in 2.15 seconds. The previous record for EVs was 2.68 seconds.

The DUT12 is a project car built by students from the Delft University of Technology in Denmark. The DUT12 is small and looks lightweight, but its actual weight surpasses any expectation: it has only 320 lbs / 145 kg, about a tenth of a modern family car. It was purposely built to perform well when accelerating, so it doesn’t need traction control: if the tarmac is dry, it can shoot off without the wheel spinning.

The DUT12 has not one, but four electric motors located in each wheel. It also has a suspension system similar to race cars, so apart from the acceleration, the car might be very good when cornering, as well. By building the DUT12, the students can gain valuable insights into the working of an electric car, a knowledge increasingly sought after by today’s car manufacturers.

The car is the latest in a long series of race cars built by students of Delft University of Technology. The racing team of the university, named DUT Racing, is well-known for building extremely lightweight Formula Student racing cars. They won Formula Student UK once (2011) and Formula Student Germany five times (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), being among the best Formula Student teams today.

However, their DUT12 is on its way to become famous. It can be the symbol of down-to-earth ingenuity, pushing the limits of automotive design further. We can only hope that the students who built this car will be in key positions in the automotive industry soon.